Conspiracy Theories: A Pastor's Reflection
My Name is Rob J King. I am a former Evangelical United Methodist pastor and currently a Chaplain in the United States Army. During my time as a pastor, I have seen many things. One thing I have noticed is that when two or three people get together, a "coalition" can be formed. Whether it was front-loading votes to oppose a Methodist church building campaign or opposition to feeding the hungry in programs that weren't "officially U. Methodist," I have seen how all it takes for a conspiracy to form is two or three disgruntled people! But what about "conspiracy" theories on a much broader scale? This question is tougher to answer. On the one hand, there has always been a conspiracy. The kingdom of evil versus the kingdom of God. From Abel being murdered by his own brother Cain (Genesis 4:4 - 16) to Sodom & Gomorrah (Genesis 19:12 - 13), human evil has never been erased from history, and even until the Second Coming of Jesus evil will still be with us. But what about full-blown evil on an international scale? Truly, one can easily point out truly evil men like Hitler who euthanized the physically handi-capped and young children and murdered 10 million Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and anyone else who would not conform to Nazi ideology. But what about the recent interest in conspiracy theories as popularized by The Da Vinci Code? Are there really under-ground financial brokers who secretly try to control all of the world, its people and its resources? Here, I can only state what I know, and from whom I know it. I know that from Evangelical Protestants such as the deceased financial analyst Larry Burkett to traditional Roman Catholic enclaves such as what produced the viewpoints of Mel Gibson, there is a shared view that yes, there are in fact people who worship lucifer, the fallen angel of light, and yes they may be secretly trying to control everything from mass media to academic institutions to world financial structures. I have even read several compelling articles in Catholic Family News that point out the potential conspiracy between luciferians (sometimes high-ranking freemasons) against the saints and martyrs of Christian history. In many ways, however, this conspiracy is again as old as time itself. Evil is evil in whatever its guise. In fact, the Early Church even confronted similar evil in the form of the gnostic cults that sprang up shortly after the coming of Jesus Christ. "Knowledge" was stressed (usually secretive knowledge available only to the select few who could be manipulated and controlled) rather than true repentance. In many ways, the Gospel of Thomas, a early writing rejected by the Church as guided by the Holy Spirit, represents this false form of Christianity that in fact represents pure evil. I haven't read much of this early false gospel, but one line that especially struck me in the Gospel of Thomas was an explicit reference to never giving assistance to the poor, a direct contradiction to the true words of Jesus as found in Matthew 5:42 which explicitly states, "give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you." Truly, as Christians we are not called to give to support alcoholism, drug addiction, etc., but it is nonetheless striking that the true Gospel of Jesus Christ is vitally concerned with the poor, the marginalized, the widow and the orphan. To do otherwise would go against the Torah, the Revealed Law of Moses that Jesus came to fulfill. In fact, contrary to the Gospel of Thomas or present day illuminati (whomever and whereever they may be!), Jesus, God-Man sent to die for our salvation explicitly states, "you cannot serve God and wealth." (Matthew 6:24) So, do the illuminati actually exist? Well, that question is simple to answer. Yes. There are in fact people who worship lucifer. There always have been and until Jesus comes again, there always will be. In fact, I even received a "recruiting letter" from one of them at one point (I guess they knew I went to Duke and Notre Dame), a letter that I immediately mailed to Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., a person whom I admire greatly for similarly standing up against the evil financial power brokers of the world. Was it a prank? Well, I don't know for sure, but what I do know is that there are many people who amass horrific amounts of wealth while half of the planet literally starves to death. Evil incarnate is such amassing of wealth at another's expense. But in contrast, we as American citizens are historically one of the most generous people on earth. When others turn a blind eye to the starving in Africa or southeast Asia, we send troops into battle offering food, water, clothing and an example of what a Judeo-Christian nation should look like. Yes, we have our faults as a tribe, but the "tribe" called Americans is an antithesis to such pure evil. Give to the poor and give freely. Yours in public service, --RobJKing 20:20, 12 December 2006 (UTC)Rob J King, Ph.D. (ABD*) Category:Pages to categorize